All right - it’s time for this critic to become one of many to get in line to kiss the butt of writer-director Wes Anderson and his movie “The Royal Tenenbaums.” But before you think I’ve gone soft, I’m gonna start out by being negative. Gotta give the people what they want.
“The Royal Tenenbaums” is poorly constructed with a convoluted story line. The pacing also becomes tedious as the focus shifts from character to character, never giving most of the people in the film a chance to breathe some life into their personalities.
Now that I’m done sounding like I actually know what I’m talking about, I’ll put it into terms that we all understand without sounding like a pretentious jerk. The movie just plain tries to pack too much into one movie. There’s just not enough space for it all. With such a great ensemble cast, it almost seems that Anderson wanted to give everyone enough time on the playing field and ended up wasting away most of the movie trying to let everyone shine. In short, it does not compare to Anderson’s last movie, the truly great “Rushmore.”
The main saving grace of the movie is Gene Hackman. The guy’s great. Up there with Jeff Bridges for the most underrated actor working today, Hackman’s character, Royal, radiates. And wisely enough, he is the one who takes up most of the screen time. His energy just brings the movie to life.
In the movie, Royal is the father of three children who were all child prodigies in one way or another. Chas (Ben Stiller) is a successful businessman, Margot (Gwyneth Paltrow) is a playwright and Richie (Luke Wilson) is a pro-tennis player. While all three were incredibly gifted from a young age, after Royal leaves their mother, Etheline(Anjelica Huston), the whole family starts a long slide into depression and failure.
So, one way or another, they all make their way back to the family home. Wanting to get back into the family circle, Royal fakes a case of stomach cancer. Once he gets there, the family attempts to deal with their feelings for him while also being infected by his pure love of life.
Other than Hackman, most of the cast feels underused. But to actually use everyone to their full potential, the movie would have to be at least eight-hours long. Huston never really gets a chance to truly flesh out Etheline, and Danny Glover and Bill Murray both make very slight appearances that could have been expanded wonderfully, had time allowed.
To quote my dad, the movie is just a little too big for its britches. There’s too much for just one flick. As far as I’m concerned, ambition in movies is something that we see far too little of nowadays. I’ll take a movie that aims high but falls short over the bulk of the Hollywood pap that gets puked out lately. For all it’s shortcomings, “The Royal Tenenbaums” is a great movie, one that I personally can’t wait to see again.
I would also be amiss if I didn’t spend some time saluting the excellent soundtrack. Whereas most movies today are set with a lame pop tune, this movie, like “Rushmore” uses the music to help lift the whole thing up. Whenever the movie starts to slide, a tune like The Ramones’ “Judy Is a Punk” or Paul Simon’s “Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard” helps to lift it up.
All in all, a good movie that rises high above most of the pack at the local cinema. This is one that most people won’t want their eight bucks back afterwards.
